Work at Arakkonam station affects travel plans of NEET candidates

Divisional Railway Manager Naveen Gulati recently announced the plan to extend existing platforms, build additional ones and straighten curved platforms, in addition to putting up new signals at the station. The work, which started on Saturday, will end on May 7. Because of this work, Southern Railways announced the cancellation of 9 express trains passing through Arakkonam.

“This work will definitely affect both local students and those from Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts arriving by train at Vellore, Melvisharam, Katpadi, Arcot and Arakkonam for the exams slated for May 6,” a railway official in Katpadi accepted.  Among the trains that have been cancelled during the above-mentioned period are the Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi express, Chennai-Coimbatore Kovai Express, Chennai-Jolarpet Yelagiri express and Chennai-Tirupati Sapthagiri express. With candidates appearing for the test being instructed to arrive as early as 7.30 am at the centres, parents and students say their travel plans are thrown into disarray.  

Candidates from Tirupattur, Ambur, Gudiyattam and Vaniyambadi say they had planned to reach exam centres in Chennai by the Jolarpet-Chennai express, while those from Chennai scheduled to appear at centres in Vellore said they had booked on the Coimbatore bound Kovai express. Both trains have been cancelled. “We have no other option but to hire a taxi to my child’s centre at Arcot,” said an aggrieved parent over phone from Krishnagiri. 

When contacted, a senior railway official said, “We have not received any representation on this issue from either the public or the state government.”